When I first discovered Wikipedia I had no idea what a Wiki was. I just simply thought it was a digital encyclopedia! I used it often and with my students when doing research, I didn't question the validity of the content as I believed it was written by experts just as encyclopedias always have been. There was a short time when I realized how Wikipedia was created and I questioned its value. However, I have begun to have a better sense of trust for the greater good.
I truly believe people are good, honest, caring and live their lives trying to do what's right. Those are the people who contribute to the content of these Wiki sites. There is always a risk of encountering those who set out to harm, but they are few, and no competition for those with a stronger sense of right and wrong. How interesting that a better understanding of a Wiki can give me a comforting sense of the world today and where we are headed as a global community.
What better way to teach children to value not only their work, but those of others? Our western culture is so focused on the individual that we could learn something from the eastern cultures who find it shameful to take credit for themselves, it is the group that becomes successful, not the individual. Wikis are a true result of what strong collaboration skills will do for us. Could Wikis possibly be the beginning of a cultural change?
Are you ready to grow? What's holding you back?
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Great question. If you are really struggling with these questions I encourage you to read two books. Wikinomics and Cult of the Amateur.
Wikinomics looks that how companies are using some of these new social tools to change the face of business. It's a positive look at how Web 2.0 tools are changing the way we live and work.
Cult of the Amateur is the anti-web 2.0 book that tries to explain who amateurs creating sites like wikipedia is destroying information and content as we know it.
I think these are two good books that look at that question.
For me personally I believe we can solve 99% of the problems that are raised in Cult of the Amateur by educating people and especially the next generation. That's our job! If we educate people with a new set of skills that look to look at information differently we will continue to weed out the bad sites in favor of sites that have trustworthy content. To make sense of this chaotic web of information we much empower people with the skills to make sense of it on their own.
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